UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Thursday, October 6, 1994
9A
Rostenkowski cries intrusion in indictment case
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Rep. Dan Rostenkowski's lawyers argued yesterday that corruption charges against him should be thrown out as an unprecedented intrusion on Congress' authority to police its own rules.
"Never in the history of this country have they indicted a congressman simply on the theory that he violated House rules," said Dan Webb, chief lawyer for the influential Chicago Democrat.
Webb told U.S. District Judge Norma Holloway Johnson that the prosecution intended to introduce at the trial vague House rules on official spending, present evidence that Rostenkowski violated them and have a jury "bootstrap them up into a criminal offense."
"This is about as ordinary as you can get in indicting a congressman," prosecutor John Campbell said.
Johnson said, "It makes absolutely no difference which way I rule in this case, one or the other of you is going to go to the court of appeals."
Oil spill research delayed until today
The Associated Press
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Sixix steering jets needed to precisely aim the radar instruments aboard space shuttle Endeavour shut down yesterday because of a bad sensor.
NASA scrambled to put together a computer program to bypass the sensor, a task expected to take less than 24 hours. In the meantime, the radar continued to survey mountains, oceans and other sites.
It was aimed less precisely, however, as larger, clumsier jets on Endeavour had to be used to tilt the shuttle and radar in the proper direction.
Scientists said the problem would complicate the analysis of radar images, but should not result in any missed targets, including today's oil spill. German oceanographers planned to dump oil into the North Sea to see whether Endeavour could track the mess with its radar.
Two oil-recovery ships stood by in the North Sea, ready to collect the 106 gallons of spilled diesel oil
as soon as Endeavour passed overhead. Researchers went overboard to reassure environmentalists.
"It's really overdone," said Werner Alpers, a University of Hamburg oceanographer in charge of the experiment. "it's like shooting a sparrow with a cannon."
Alpers wants to see whether Endeavour's powerful radar can distinguish between an oil spill and the film naturally produced by fish and plankton.
Space radar operating in one frequency, or wavelength, cannot tell the difference; Endeavour's radar has three frenectes.
Scientists say permanently orbiting, advanced radar could allow spills to be detected and cleaned up more quickly. The North Sea is particularly vulnerable; about 319,000 tons of oil are dumped illegally there each year.
Today's oil slick should cover no more than one-quarter square mile 18 miles west of the island of Sylt, just off Germany and Denmark. The plan called for 26 gallons of algae products to be spilled nearby for radar comparison.
Space shuttle Endeavor's Space Radar Laboratory will collect images of a deliberate oil spill on Tuesday as it passes over the North Sea.
Controlled North Sea
The experiment:
Questions to answer:
Researchers dump a synthetic compound which mimics algae and 100 gallons of light weight, heavy diesel oil*
Endeavor flies into position over North Sea to capture radar images
Possible uses:
Can radar track oil, synthetic?
Enable government agencies to spot illegal oil dumping practices
Satellites based on radar's technology could:
❖ Illegal oil dumping practices
■ Monitor environmental damage caused by oil spills
*Oil is removed from water following experiment
SOURCE: NASA
Knight-Ridder Tribune
Researchers find a way to repair joints
The Associated Press
BOSTON — Researchers have found a way to heal damaged cartilage, a breakthrough that could help hundreds of thousands of people with bad knees and other balky joints.
The experimental treatment involves growing the patients' own cartilage cells in test tubes, then injecting the tissue into the damaged joint. It has been used so far on 88 people in Sweden.
If the method proves as promising as its developers hope, it could give doctors a major tool for relieving the pain of joint injuries and stopping the crippling arthritis that often occurs years later.
Though the treatment is not yet available outside Sweden, a biotechnology company hopes to sponsor large-scale testing in Europe next year.
Cartilage lines the joints and makes them work smoothly. But unlike most other tissue in the body, it contains no blood vessels, so it cannot repair itself.
When people hurt their joints in football injuries, car accidents and other mishaps, surgeons can smooth out the damaged cartilage but cannot make it grow back.
Over time, the damage can trigger degeneration that leads to arthritis and the destruction of the entire joint. When this happens, a total knee replacement is often necessary. About 190,000 people undergo knee replacement surgery in the United States annually.
The new approach was developed by surgeons Lars Peterson and Anders Lindahl of Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Goteborg, Sweden.
"We started with knee injuries because they are the most common
and easy to reach," Peterson said. "We could use this technique in any joint to repair and prevent further damage."
A report on their first 23 knee patients was published in today's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. Results were judged to be good to excellent in 16 of them.
Among these patients was Henrik Esbjornsson, 24, of Kungalv, Sweden, a professional athlete who plays bandy, a game similar to ice hockey.
Seven years ago, he tore a ligament and injured the cartilage that covers the end of the thighbone and cushions the knee. His right knee was painful, instable and tended to lock up. Doctors performed the procedure in 1990.
"Since the operation, I can use the knee as I could before," Eshjornson said. "It's completely OK."
America's health care most expensive
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — A new study indicates that the U.S. health care system is still the most expensive in the world and the spending gap with other major countries is widening.
According to figures compiled for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the United States spent $3,094 per person on health care in 1992, or 13.6 percent of its gross domestic product. ,
Most of the other 23 countries tracked by the Paris-based OECD spent less than half that amount. They devoted just 8.1 percent of their GDP to health care.
Canada spent 10.3 percent of its GDP, or $1,949 per resident, on health care in 1992; Finland spent 9.4 percent, or $1,363; France spent 9.4 percent, or $1,745; Switzerland spent 9.3 percent, or $2,068; Germany spent 8.7 percent, or $1,775; Italy spent 8.5 percent, or $1,497; United Kingdom spent 7.1 percent, or $1,151; Japan spent 6.9 percent, or $1,376; and
Turkey spent 4.1 percent, or $156.
In a report published Tuesday in the journal Health Affairs, the United States had the fifth-highest infant mortality rate — only Turkey, Portugal, Luxembourg and Greece were higher — and the highest percentage of low-birthweight babies.
But it was near the top in life expectancy for senior citizens. U.S. men can expect to live 7.2 years beyond their 80th birthday. Women can expect to live to be 89.1 years old. Iceland's octogenarians have the same life expectancy. In Canada, the 80-year-old men live for 7.1 more years on average, and the 80-year-old women have 9.3 more years.
The report stated that per capita U.S. health care spending continued to climb faster than consumer prices. Since 1980, health care spending has grown 4.6 percent more a year than prices in the United States.
Americans spent less time in the hospital than people in most other countries.
Foundation aims for new solutions to old problems
The Stern Family Fund, which inherited $3 million when liberal philanthropist Philip M. Stern died in 1992, announced a "Public Interest Ploneers" grant program that would look for people cast in the Nader mold.
WASHINGTON — In an effort to identify a new generation of Ralph Naders, a foundation said it would give up to $300,000 a year to reformers with fresh ideas for shaking up the established order.
The awards are modeled on the grants of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, which in the last 13 years has given away $120 million to people selected, without applying, for their skill and creativity.
The Stern awards will go to applicants with ideas for making society work better but without the resources to put their thinking into practice. The foundation cites Nader, a crusading consumer activist in Washington for nearly 30 years, as an example of the type it is looking to find.
Michael Caudell-Feagan, a lawyer who once received a Stern grant to establish the National Association for Public Interest Law, will administer the awards.
As examples of the type of applicants who might win, he suggested someone should do research on ways to assure adequate access to the information superhighway to all segments of society or on the failure of antitrust law enforcement and alternatives to it.
The Associated Press
David Stern, president of the fund and son of Philip Stern, said, "We are looking to give a few undiscovered geniuses the resources to do something new and significant to improve our society."
"We intend to reach into corporate offices, public interest organizations, government bureaucracies, universities and disenfranchised communities to find those individuals with the skills, experience and passion to succeed," he said.
The money was provided in the will of Philip Stern, who inherited his money from his grandfather, Julius Rosenwald, former chairman of Sears, Roebuck & Co.
WARNER BROS. PRESENTS
THE SPECIALIST
A JERRY WEINTRAUB PRODUCTION A FILM BY LIUIS LLOSA SVIVESTER STALLONE SHARON STONE
JAMES WOODS "THE SPECIALIST" WITH ROD STEIGER AND ERIC ROBERTS
EDITOR JACK HOFSTRAUB, A.C.E. PRODUCED BY JEFFREY L.KIMBALB, A.S.C. MUSIC JOHN BARRY PRODUCED BY R.J. LOUIS
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER STEVE BARRON & JEFF MOST AND CHUCK BINDER WRITTEN ALEXANDRA SEROS
PRODUCED BY JERRY WEINTRAUB DIRECTED BY LIUIS LLOSA
R
GOUNGINMAC ALUMNI ON ORCLEIGH MOON/EPIC SIGNATURE
OPENS OCTOBER 7TH EVERYWHERE
Discover Our Difference Holiday Plaza • 25th & Iowa 841-6886
Hair Experts Design Team
Smile for some sticks
Extended Week! STUDENT PORTRAITS
(Free breadsticks from Pizza Hut, while supplies last)
October 3-7
All students welcome
Strong Hall Rotunda
Free with your KUID
1995 yearbooks available for purchase!
Questions?
Call 864-7357
Monday, Wednesday — Friday:
9 a.m. - noon & 1 - 5 p.m.
Tuesday: 1 - 5 p.m. & 6 - 9 p.m.
Lawrence Community Theatre 1501 New Hampshire • 843-7469
Do you need $ for college
Mid-West Ass. can match you up
with non-federal scholarships,
grants & gifts GUARANTEED!
Mid-West Assistance (913) 843-0016
Jayhawk
Bookstore
"Your Book Professionals"
"At the top of Naismith Hill"
Hrs: 8-6 M-Th. 8-Fri. 9-5 Sat. 12-4 Sun.
943-2026
843-3826
"A DISTINCTLY VICTORIAN SHOPPE"
Unique Gifts, Home Decor,
Cards, Jewelry
VICTORIAN
SAMPLER
HISTORIC ELDRIDGE HOTEL
7th & Massachusetts
Lawrence, Kansas
(913) 841-7887